Monday, 21 July 2014

So much fun to be had rummaging through my neat piles of fabric to find seven suitably hankie-like fabrics. Many sweet and cheery prints were discounted as not being gentle enough on the nose but the good thing is that only a smallish amount of fabric is needed for each hankie and so my overflowing drawers came up with this selection

Lovely to remember the makes the fabric was originally intended for - the green dot type a sunglasses case for Patch's teacher last summer, the yellow gingham the contrast panel on an Oliver + s popover sundress made for Esme gosh maybe five years ago - it is a beautifully soft gingham - then, seaside houses used for a birthday bag for Kate, boats just because and used for many a thing, cameras actually purchased especially for Linda's washbag last year, red gingham - again oh so soft - from making P a duvet cover and blue stars waiting patiently to be made into a quilt for P. Still.

I thought this would be a simple and satisfying make and happily cut out the squares and selected a contrast thread for the hemming. And that is where these stopped being oh so simple as I merrily decided that what these birthday hankies needed was a rolled hem. And so I started with my bright contrast thread and oh my. Those rolled hems are not as easy and not as straight as I hoped for! Once I got started on a side it went swimmingly but to stop the machine eating the fabric I found the only thing to do was to start stitching a little way in from the end. This meant that each end of each side then needed to be hand sewn and, well, not quite the hem I was planning. Next time they will have a simple stitched hem and probably look much neater for it! Though they do look lovely all in a pile

And it is fun getting texts from Linda informing me which hankie she has selected for a certain day. Such fun! Happy nose-blowing Linda!

Monday, 14 July 2014

Another Oliver + s pattern to love! This time the reversible bucket hat from little things to sew and because every little boy needs a sunhat with mice riding bicycles all over it that is just what Jude got

The brown fabric I think is mousey mouse by Lizzy House for Andover Fabrics, purchased locally along with a contrast blue Moda solid for the reverse. Or main, depending on how the mood takes Jude (or his Mummy)

I followed the suggestions from a little gray to omit any hand stitching, making this an even quicker make.

Friday, 11 July 2014

Now this one is possibly my favourite. So far. Used the same yellow dotty lining as this one, oh and the same velvet ribbon. I do think on the larger sizes (this is the size seven) a wider bow would look nicer so next time I shall hopefully remember this and make a fabric bow. But what makes this dress so sweet (apart from the pattern) is the oh so pretty fabric. This is the beautifully named Aunt Grace miniatures blue and yellow flower toss from the lovely Sew and Quilt

And I graciously parted with another of the delicious vintage buttons.

Wednesday, 9 July 2014

A free crochet app just had to be explored! I tell myself that I must find time each week to crochet the Granny of the Week as I wouldn't want to fall behind. Oh no. I can be dreadfully behind with regards to ironing, cleaning, gardening but not this crochet. It would appear that I am OK with being behind in blogging about these Granny squares though...

Week one was rather sadly named 'Your first Granny' which feels a bit mean when you discover the named delights of future weeks

A nice cheery basic Granny Square. The wool used is Annell Rapido in off white, yellow, light cyan and light grey. Oh and there is also a ball in pink but obviously not used for this Granny.

The thought was to join all Grannies together and make a blanket so I have kept to the same wool each week, even though the patterns can be quite different. But there is a problem... the patterns are different and so to are the sizes of the finished Grannies. Hmmm. Oh well, when I have a considerable pile I could maybe add extra rows to some to make them a similar size and then still join as a blanket. Or I may end up with a pile of Grannies with no plan.

Monday, 7 July 2014

Or maybe an okay headscarf for a very special person, made with so much love. When my lovely friend told me she had cancer I really wanted to make her something. At a time when I felt I couldn't help her I wanted her to know just how much we love her. Initially I thought about sewing some headscarfs but couldn't find an acceptable pattern anywhere. Maybe because such things could be so simple they don't need a pattern? Anyway, Ravelry had a few ideas and I settled on knitting Au bout de pre's smooth headscarf

Some time was spent stroking deliciously soft wool in the local wool shop, and I chose Sublime baby cashmere merino silk dk in the equally delicious sounding plum pie. The headscarf took two balls of wool rather than just the one suggested in the pattern but then I did change the pattern, so that's probably why! The English rib used felt a little, well not smooth which was odd for something that called itself a smooth headscarf. And it certainly wasn't because of the wool - this stuff is oh so soft. So I knitted the main section in a simple stocking stitch and all appears to have turned out well. Maybe not as stretchy as the original, but still happily covers a cold head

Friday, 4 July 2014

There has already been one more, and no doubt would be many, many more if I had a need to make such clothes more regularly. So I think this may be the birthday present for every girl we know from now on... Because this pattern - the oliver + s rollerskate dress - is all you could want from a pattern. Easy to follow, actually an easy make but perhaps more time consuming than some makes such as a simple skirt (but really this is easy) and a sweet looking dress once complete. And oh the chance to use some lovely prints.

Or not, as this first one I made in denim

Handily I already had the denim in a pile and I definitely wanted to make it with a yellow lining and ribbon. Sadly no yellow lining found in said pile, so I just had to go fabric buying. Initially I had planned a yellow gingham but all I could find locally was poly cotton but then I found this yellow dotty and all was well. Except I couldn't find any yellow velvet ribbon. Luckily the village haberdashery sells some, and it really is rather lovely with its double sided velvetness

I added yellow top stitching to break up the amount of denim though I wanted to keep it fairly simple so it can be a wear with anything dress.

I have seen a photograph of the birthday girl wearing the dress and think the sizing is possibly a bit large, but still most certainly wearable. Also, when I do make this again I think I'll make a wider ribbon for the front...

Ooo, another delicious vintage button. If it hadn't looked so perfect it would have been difficult to part with this button. It does help that I still have a few in the tin. Hope you are loving your dress Lucy! And that sunny button...